LiveLeak.com - KILLER CLOWN (JOHN WAYNE GACY) KILLER CLOWN (JOHN WAYNE GACY) -- John Wayne GACY Jr. A.K.A.: "The Killer Clown" Classification: Serial killerCharacteristics: RapeNumber of victims: 33Date of murders: 1972 - 1978Date of arrest: December 21, 1978Date of birth: March 17, 1942Victims profile: Boys and young menMethod of murder: StrangulationLocation: Chicago, Illinois, USAStatus: Executed by lethal injection in Illinois on May 10, 1994 photo gallery 1 photo gallery 2 photo gallery 3 [ - John Wayne Gacy - Wikiquote John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy with the First Lady Rosalynn Carter . John Wayne Gacy, Jr. ( March 17 , 1942 – May 10 , 1994 ) was an American serial killer.

He was convicted and later executed for the rape and murder of 33 boys and young men, 28 of whom he buried in the crawl space under his house, between 1972 and his arrest in December 1978. He became notorious as the "Killer Clown" because of the many block parties he attended, entertaining children in a clown suit and makeup. Sourced[ edit ] The idea that I'm a homosexual thrill killer, that I stroll down the streets and stalk young boys and slaughter them... Hell, if you could see my schedule, my work schedule, you knew damn well that I was never out there. Biography - John Wayne Gacy: Monster in Disguise. A & E Home Video, 2000. Watched March 1, 2010. I would definitely not be homosexual. I have nothing against what they do and I don't deny that I've engaged in sex with males but that I'm bisexual. Biography - John Wayne Gacy: Monster in Disguise. A & E Home Video, 2000.

Whether its [David] Berkowitz, whether its [Ted] Bundy , whether its Williams, Wayne Williams down in Atlanta or any of the others, or Charlie Manson —I don't comment about other cases for the simple fact is that I wasn't there. 1000+ images about JOHN WAYNE GACY on Pinterest | Jeffrey dahmer, Dennis nilsen and Ted bundy Learn more at Uploaded by user John Wayne Gacy's house 1978 - American serial killer & rapist who sexually assaulted & murdered at least 33 teenage boys & young men between 1972 & 1978.He buried 26 of his victims in the crawl space of his home,3 others elsewhere on his property & discarded the remains of his last 4 known victims in a nearby river.He was executed in May 1994.He became known as the "Killer Clown" due to his charitable services at fundraising events,parades & children parties where he'd dress as Pogo the… More · June 22, 2012 · Gacy lured his victims to his home with the promise of construction work, eventually sexually assaulting, torturing and strangling them with rope.

He would sometimes be dressed as his alter ego, Pogo the Clown, and he told police the killings were committed by an alternate personality, Jack Hanson. However, during his trial in 1980, psychiatrists testified Gacy was not a multiple personality. He was ultimately convicted of all 33 deaths, making him the worst serial killer in U.S. history. He was sentenced to serve 12 death sentences and 21 natural life sentences. He died by lethal injection on May 10, 1994 at Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois. · June 22, 2012 · Serial killer. Born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. The son of Danish and Polish parents, Gacy was a self-made building contractor and Democratic precinct captain in the Chicago suburbs in the 1970s. Well liked in his community, Gacy married twice and had two children. But on December 21, 1978, a police search of Gacy?s house uncovered the grisly truth. Within days, Gacy confessed to killing 33 boys and young men, the majority of whom had been buried in his crawl space.

· June 22, 2012 · orn on March 17, 1942, in Chicago, John Wayne Gacy confessed in 1978 to killing 33 boys and young men, most of whom had been buried in the crawl space under his house. He would sometimes dress as his alter ego, Pogo the Clown, and said the killings were committed by an alternate personality, Jack Hanson, although psychiatrists said he did not have multiple personalities. He was executed in 1994. John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy March 17, 1942(1942-03-17)Chicago, Illinois, USA Died: May 10, 1994(1994-05-10) (aged 52)Crest Hill, Illinois, USA Cause of death: Edit Block Mug shot of John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

(March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer also known as the Killer Clown who committed the rape and murder of 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. Twenty-six of Gacy's victims were buried in the crawlspace of his home, three others elsewhere on his property and four victims were discarded in a nearby river.Gacy became known as the "Killer Clown" due to his charitable services at fundraising events, parades and children's parties where he would dress as "Pogo the Clown," a character he devised himself. Early life Edit Block John Gacy, pictured around 1950. John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, the only son and the second of three children born of John Stanley Gacy (June 20, 1900 – December 25, 1969), a machinist and World War I veteran, and Marion Elaine (née Robinson; May 4, 1908 – December 14, 1989).

Gacy was of Polish and Danish heritage. As a child, he was both overweight and nonathletic. He was close to his two sisters and mother (who affectionately called him "Johnny"), but was regularly disciplined by his father—an alcoholic who was physically abusive toward his wife and children—often beating them with a leather belt. Throughout his childhood and adolescence, Gacy continuously strove to make his stern father proud of him, but seldom received his approval; the elder Gacy regularly belittled him, often calling him a "sissy", "stupid" and a "Mama's boy". At the age of nine, Gacy was molested by a family friend. When he was 11, he was struck on the forehead by a swing. The resulting head trauma formed a blood clot in his brain that went unnoticed until he was 16, when he began to suffer blackouts. His father suspected the episodes were an effort to gain sympathy and accused his son of faking. Gacy was prescribed medication to dissolve the clot. Gacy attended four different high schools but dropped out of every one, never actually graduating.

At the age of 20, following an argument with his father, Gacy left home and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked in a mortuary for three months before returning to Chicago. Without returning to high school, Gacy enrolled in and eventually graduated from Northwestern Business College. He obtained a management-trainee position with the Nunn-Bush Shoe Company shortly after graduation. In 1964, Gacy was transferred to Springfield, Illinois to work as a salesman. There he met co-worker Marlynn Myers, and they married in September 1964. After completing his apprenticeship, Gacy was promoted to manager of his department. He became active in local Springfield organizations, joining the Jaycees and rising to vice-president of the Springfield chapter by 1965. Move to Iowa, first offenses and imprisonment Edit Block Following a lucrative offer from Gacy's father-in-law to appoint him manager of three KFC restaurants, Gacy and his wife moved from Illinois and settled in Waterloo, Iowa. Gacy and his wife had two children; a son named Michael, born in March 1967, followed by a daughter named Christine in January 1969.

Shortly after his arrival in the city, Gacy had his first sexual experience with a man: a colleague of the Waterloo Jaycees—which Gacy had joined upon his arrival in the city—fellated Gacy while he was drunk. Gacy was an enthusiastic worker for the Waterloo Jaycees, becoming a tireless worker on several fund-raising projects. In 1967, he was named "outstanding vice-president" of the Waterloo Jaycees. These achievements even earned approval from his father, who mentioned his previous criticism of his son during a 1967 visit to Waterloo and concluded the conversation with his son with the words: "Son, I was wrong about you." However, there was a seamier side of Jaycee life in Waterloo: one that involved wife swapping,prostitution, pornography and drugs. Gacy was deeply involved in many of these activities, and regularly cheated on his wife. In late 1967, Gacy began to abuse teenage male employees of the restaurants he managed. Gacy opened a "club" in his basement, where he allowed employees to drink alcohol before he made sexual advances toward them.

One youth was encouraged to sleep with Gacy's wife, then blackmailed into performing oral sex upon Gacy. Several teenagers were conned into believing Gacy was commissioned into carrying out homosexual experiments in the interests of "scientific research", for which the youths were paid up to $50. Gacy's double life in Waterloo came to a sudden halt in March 1968 when two local boys, aged 15 and 16, accused him of sexually assaulting them. Gacy professed his innocence, but in August of that year he hired another Waterloo youth to physically assault one of his accusers in an effort to discourage the boy from testifying against him. The youth was caught and confessed, and Gacy was arrested. On September 3, Gacy was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation at the Psychiatric Hospital of the State University of Iowa. Two doctors examined Gacy over a period of seventeen days and concluded he was an antisocial personality, unlikely to benefit from medical treatment and whose behavior pattern was likely to bring him into repeated conflict with society. The doctors also concluded he was mentally competent to stand trial.

December 3, 1968, Gacy was convicted of sodomy and sentenced to 10 years at Anamosa State Penitentiary, located in Jones County, Iowa. The day Gacy was sentenced, his wife petitioned for divorce and requested possession of the couples' home, property and subsequent alimony payments. The Court ruled in her favor and the divorce was final in September 1969. Gacy never saw his first wife or children again. In prison, Gacy rose to the position of head cook and was a model prisoner: joining an all-inmate Jaycee chapter in which he actively supervised several projects to improve conditions for inmates at the prison and even managed to secure an increase in the inmates' daily pay in the prison mess hall. He also oversaw the installation of a miniature golf course in the prison's recreation yard. In June 1969, Gacy first applied to the State of Iowa Board of Parole for early release, which was initially denied. In preparation for a second scheduled hearing in May 1970, Gacy completed sixteen high school courses, for which he obtained his diploma in November 1969.

Gacy's father died from cirrhosis of the liver on Christmas Day 1969. Gacy was not told his father had passed away until several days after his death. When he heard the news, he broke down in tears and had to be supported by prison staff. Gacy requested compassionate leave from prison to attend his father's funeral, but his request was denied. Parole Edit Block Gacy and Carole Hoff on their wedding day in 1972. Gacy was granted parole with 12 months' probation on June 18, 1970 after serving either 21 months or 18 months of his 10-year sentence. Upon his release, Gacy announced to a friend, who collected him from prison, that he intended to re-establish himself in Waterloo. However, within 24 hours of his release, Gacy opted to relocate to Chicago to live with his mother. He arrived in Chicago on June 19 and obtained a job as a short-order cook in a restaurant. On February 12, 1971, Gacy was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy.

The youth claimed that Gacy had lured him into his car at Chicago's Greyhound bus terminal and had attempted to force him into sex. The complaint was subsequently dismissed when the youth failed to appear in court. The Iowa Board of Parole did not learn of this incident (which violated the conditions of his parole) and the records of Gacy's previous convictions were subsequently sealed: he was restored full citizenship in October 1971. Gacy hid his criminal record until police began investigating him for his later murders. With financial assistance from his mother, Gacy bought a house at 8213 West Summerdale in an unincorporated area of Norwood Park in August 1971. Shortly after Gacy and his mother moved into the house, he became engaged to a woman named Carole Hoff, a divorcee, whom he had briefly dated in high school, who had two young daughters. His fiancee moved into his home soon after the couple announced their engagement and Gacy's mother moved out of the house shortly before his wedding, which was held on July 1, 1972.

On June 22, 1972, Gacy was again arrested and charged with battery after another young man complained to police that Gacy, impersonating a police officer, had flashed a sheriff's badge, lured him into his car, and forced him to perform oral sex upon him. These charges were dropped after the complainant attempted to blackmail Gacy into his dropping the charges in exchange for money. Businessman and community volunteer Edit Block Gacy as "Pogo The Clown." Following Gacy's marriage to Carole Hoff, his new wife and stepdaughters moved into the Summerdale Avenue house. In 1972, Gacy quit his job as a cook and started his own construction business, named PDM Contractors (PDM being the initials for 'Painting, Decorating and Maintenance'). The business initially undertook minor repair work such as signwriting, pouring concrete and redecorating but later expanded to include projects such as interior design, remodeling, installation, assembly and landscaping. By 1978, PDM's annual turnover would gross over $200,000. By 1975, Gacy had ceased to have sexual relations with his wife after openly admitting to her he was bisexual.

He began spending most evenings away from home only to return in the early hours of the morning with the excuse he had been working late. His wife observed Gacy bringing teenage boys into his garage and also found gay pornography inside the house. The Gacys divorced by mutual consent in March 1976. Gacy became active in his local community activity and projects, including entertaining at picnics and parties as a clown and volunteering to clean the township Democratic party office where he offered the labor services of his PDM employees free of charge. Gacy was rewarded for his services by being appointed to serve upon the Norwood Park Township street lighting committee. He subsequently earned the title of precinct captain. In 1975, Gacy was appointed director of Chicago's annual Polish Constitution Day Parade—an annual event he was to supervise from 1975 until 1978. Through his work with the parade, John Gacy met and was photographed with then First Lady Rosalynn Carter on May 6, 1978. Rosalynn Carter signed one photo: "To John Gacy. Best Wishes. Rosalynn Carter".

The event later became a major embarrassment to the United States Secret Service, as in the pictures Gacy is wearing an "S" pin, indicating a person who has received a special clearance by the Secret Service. Gacy became aware of a "Jolly Joker" Clown Club when he joined the local Moose Club, whose members—dressed as clowns—would regularly perform at fundraising events and parades as well as voluntarily entertain hospitalized children. By late 1975, Gacy had joined the Jolly Jokers and had created a performance character, "Pogo The Clown". He designed his own costumes and taught himself how to apply clown makeup. The sharp corners Gacy painted at the edges of his mouth are contrary to the rounded borders that professional clowns normally employ, so as not to scare children. Gacy performed as Pogo at local parties and events, and though he often spoke of entertaining at children’s hospitals, there is no evidence of his doing so. Gacy is also known to have arrived, dressed in his clowning garb, at a favorite drinking venue named the Good Luck Lounge on several occasions with the explanation he had just performed at a venue as Pogo and was stopping for a social drink before heading home.

Murders Edit Block Robert Piest, 15. Murdered December 11, 1978. On January 2, 1972, Gacy, engaged to marry his second wife, picked up a 15-year-old youth named Timothy Jack McCoy from Chicago's Greyhound bus terminal. McCoy—traveling en route from Michigan to Omaha—was taken on a sightseeing tour of Chicago by Gacy, then driven to his home on the promise that he could spend the night and be driven back to the station in time to catch his bus. According to Gacy, the following morning, he awoke to find McCoy standing in his bedroom doorway with a kitchen knife in his hand. Gacy leapt from his bed and McCoy raised both arms in a gesture of surrender, tilting the knife upwards and accidentally cutting Gacy's forearm (Gacy had the scar on his arm to support this claim). Gacy twisted the knife from McCoy's wrist, banged his head against his bedroom wall then kicked him against his wardrobe and walked towards him. McCoy then kicked him in the stomach and Gacy then stabbed McCoy repeatedly in the chest and watched him slide down towards the floor.

Gacy claimed he then went to his kitchen and saw an opened carton of eggs and a slab of unsliced bacon on his kitchen table. McCoy had also set the table for two: he had walked into Gacy's room to wake him while absentmindedly carrying the kitchen knife in his hand. Gacy subsequently buried McCoy in his crawl space and later covered the youth's grave with a layer of concrete. Three years later, in July 1975, one of Gacy's employees, 17-year-old John Butkovitch, disappeared. The day prior to his disappearance, Butkovitch had threatened Gacy over two weeks' outstanding back pay. Gacy later admitted to luring Butkovitch to his home while his wife and stepchildren were visiting his sister in Arkansas, ostensibly to settle the issue of Butkovitch's overdue wages. Gacy conned the youth into cuffing his wrists behind his back, then strangled him to death and buried his body under the concrete floor of his garage. Gacy later admitted to having "sat on the kid's chest for a while" before killing him.

Butkovitch's Dodge sedan was found abandoned in a parking lot with the youth's wallet inside and the keys still in the ignition. John Butkovitch's father called Gacy, who claimed he was happy to help search for the youth but was sorry Butkovitch had "run away". Gacy was questioned about Butkovitch's disappearance and admitted the youth and two friends had arrived at his apartment demanding Butkovitch's overdue pay, but claimed all three youths had left after a compromise had been reached. Over the following three years, Butkovitch's parents called police more than 100 times, urging them to investigate Gacy further. Gacy's second wife divorced him eight months later, and Gacy began to kill more frequently as he now had the house to himself. Between April and October 1976, Gacy killed a minimum of eight youths between the ages of 14 and 18, seven of whom were buried in his crawlspace, and one beneath his dining room floor. In December 1976, another Gacy employee, Gregory Godzik, disappeared. Godzik had worked for PDM for only three weeks before he disappeared.

In the time he had worked for Gacy, he had informed his family Gacy had had him "dig trenches for some kind of (drain) tiles" in his crawl space. Godzik's parents and older sister, Eugenia, contacted Gacy about Greg's disappearance. Gacy claimed to the family that Greg had run away from home, having indicated to Gacy prior to his disappearance that he wished to do so. Gacy also claimed to have received a recorded answering machine message from Godzik shortly after the youth had disappeared. When asked if he could play back the message to Godzik's parents, Gacy stated that he had erased it. On January 20, 1977, John Szyc—a 19-year-old acquaintance of Butkovich, Godzik and Gacy—disappeared. Szyc was lured to Gacy's house on the pretext of selling his Plymouth Satellite to Gacy. He was buried in Gacy's crawl space directly above the body of Godzik. Gacy later sold Szyc's car to another of his employees.

In April 1977, following the March 15 murder of 20-year-old Jon Prestidge—a Michigan youth who disappeared while visiting friends in Chicago—Gacy became temporarily engaged to a woman he had been dating for three months and his fiancée moved into his house. By mutual agreement, the engagement was called off in June of that year and his fiancée moved out of his home. Between July and December 1977, Gacy killed a further seven young men between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one, including the son of a Chicago Police Sergeant. In August 1977, a clue emerged to the disappearance of John Szyc when the employee, to whom Gacy had sold Szyc's car, was arrested for stealing gasoline from a station while driving Szyc's car. Upon investigating the theft, Gacy told officers that Szyc had sold the car to him before leaving town. The police did not pursue the matter further. On December 30, 1977, Gacy abducted a 19-year-old student, named Robert Donnelly, from a Chicago bus stop at gunpoint.

Donnelly was driven to Gacy's home, where the teenager was raped, tortured with various devices, and repeatedly had his head dunked into a bathtub filled with water until he passed out, before Gacy revived him. Donnelly later testified at Gacy's trial that he was in such pain that he asked Gacy to kill him to "get it over with", to which Gacy replied: "I'm getting 'round to it". After several hours of assaulting and torturing the youth, Gacy drove Donnelly to his place of work, removed the handcuffs from the youth's wrists, and released him. Donnelly reported the assault and Gacy was questioned about it on January 6, 1978. Gacy admitted to having had "slave-sex" with Donnelly, but insisted everything was consensual. The police believed him and no charges were filed. The following month, Gacy killed a 19-year-old youth named William Kindred, who disappeared February 16, 1978 after telling his fiancée he was to spend the evening in a bar.

Kindred was the final victim to be buried in Gacy's crawl space, and Gacy began disposing of his victims in the Des Plaines River. In March 1978, Gacy lured a 26-year-old named Jeffrey Rignall into his car. Upon entering the car, the young man was chloroformed and driven to the house on Summerdale, where he was raped, tortured with various instruments including lit candles, and repeatedly chloroformed into unconsciousness. Rignall was then driven to Lincoln Park, where he was dumped, unconscious but alive, and managed to stagger to his girlfriend's apartment. Rignall was later informed the chloroform had permanently damaged his liver. Police were again informed of the assault, but did not investigate Gacy. Rignall remembered, through the chloroform haze of that night, Gacy's black Oldsmobile, the Kennedy Expressway and particular side streets. He staked out the exit on the Expressway where he knew he had been driven until—in April—he saw Gacy's distinctive black Oldsmobile, which Rignall and his friends followed to 8213 West Summerdale.

Police issued an arrest warrant, and Gacy was arrested on July 15. He was facing an impending trial for a battery charge for the Rignall incident when he was arrested in December for the murders. Investigation Edit Block The crawl space at 8213 Summerdale. Twenty-six victims were found buried in this location. On December 11, 1978, John Gacy visited a Des Plaines pharmacy to discuss a potential remodeling deal with the owner of the store, a Mr. Phil Torf. While discussing the potential deal with Torf, Gacy was heard mentioning that his firm hired teenage boys while he was within earshot of a 15-year-old employee named Robert Jerome Piest. After Gacy left the store, Piest told his mother—who had come to collect her son—that "some contractor wants to talk to me about a job". Piest left the store, promising to return shortly. When Piest failed to return, his family filed a missing person report on their son with the Des Plaines Police. The owner of the pharmacy named Gacy as the contractor Piest had most likely left the store to talk with.

Gacy denied talking to Piest when Des Plaines police called him the next day, and promised to come to the station later that evening to make a statement confirming this, indicating he was unable to do so at that moment as his uncle had just died. At 3:30 a.m., Gacy, covered in mud, arrived at the police station, claiming he had been involved in a car accident. Upon returning to the station later that day, Gacy flatly denied any involvement in Robert Piest's disappearance, and denied offering the youth a job. Des Plaines police were convinced Gacy was behind Piest's disappearance and checked Gacy's record, discovering that he had an outstanding battery charge against him in Chicago and had served a prison sentence in Iowa for sodomy. A search of Gacy's house, on December 13, turned up several suspicious items: a 1975 high school class ring, other people's driver's licenses, handcuffs, a two-by-four with holes drilled in the ends, books on homosexuality and pederasty, a syringe, clothing too small for Gacy, and a photo receipt from the pharmacy where Robert Piest worked.

Police decided to assign two two-man surveillance teams to follow Gacy, while they continued their investigation of Gacy regarding Piest's disappearance. Gacy filed a $750,000 civil suit against the Des Plaines police, demanding the police surveillance cease. The hearing of his suit was scheduled for December 22. Further investigation into Gacy's background linked him to the disappearance of three additional youths. One of Gacy's employees informed detectives of Gregory Godzik's disappearance, and Gacy's second wife told of the disappearance of John Butkovich. The high school ring found in Gacy's house was traced to John Szyc. On December 18, the Nisson Pharmacy photo receipt found in Gacy's kitchen was traced to a colleague of Piest's, who said she had placed it in his parka pocket just before he left the store, proving conclusively Piest had been in Gacy's house. Another employee revealed Gacy had made him dig trenches in the crawl space of Gacy's house. On December 20, 1978, Gacy invited two of the surveillance detectives inside his house. The police noticed the smell of corpses emanating from a heating duct.

The officers, who previously searched Gacy's house, failed to notice this as on that occasion the house had been cold. Gacy had remarked to two of the surveillance officers watching him in the days before his arrest: "You know... clowns can get away with murder." On the afternoon of December 21, the eve of the hearing of Gacy's civil suit, police obtained a second search warrant of Gacy's house. To hold Gacy in custody while the search commenced, officers arrested Gacy on a charge of marijuana possession. Upon digging in the crawl space of Gacy's Norwood Park Township residence, police quickly found several human bones and informed investigators they could charge Gacy with murder. Arrest and confession Edit Block Victims Darrell Sampson (left) and Gregory Godzik (right). Sampson was found buried beneath Gacy's dining room floor. Godzik was buried in the crawl space. After being informed that police had found human remains in his crawl space and that he would now face murder charges, Gacy told officers he wanted to "clear the air," adding that he knew his arrest was inevitable since he had spent the previous evening on the couch in his lawyers' office.

In the early hours of December 22, Gacy confessed to police that since 1972, he had committed approximately 25–30 murders, all of whom he falsely claimed were teenage male runaways or male prostitutes, whom he would typically pick up from Chicago's Greyhound Bus station or off the streets, and lure to his house with either the promise of a job with his construction company or with an offer of money for sex, or just grab them by force. Once back at Gacy's house, the victims would be handcuffed or tied in another way, then choked with a rope or a board as they were sexually assaulted. Gacy would often stick clothing in their mouths to muffle their screams. Many of his victims had been killed with a tourniquet, which Gacy referred to as his "rope trick." Occasionally, the victim had convulsed for an "hour or two" after the rope trick before dying. When asked where he drew the inspiration for the two-by-four found at his house in which he had manacled many of his victims, Gacy stated he had been inspired to construct the device from reading about the Houston Mass Murders.

The victims were usually lured alone to his house, although on approximately three occasions, Gacy had what he called "doubles"—occasions wherein he killed two victims on the same evening. Most victims would then be buried in his crawl space where, periodically, Gacy would pour quicklime to hasten the decomposition of the bodies. Gacy stated he had lost count of the number of victims buried in his crawl space and had thrown the final five victims—all killed in 1978—off the I-55 bridge into the Des Plaines River because his crawl space was full. He also confessed to police he had buried the body of John Butkovitch in his garage. To assist officers in their search for the victims buried in his house, Gacy drew a diagram of his basement to show where the bodies were buried. Accompanied by police, Gacy returned to his house on December 22 and showed police where he had buried Butkovitch's body, then police drove to the spot on the I-55 bridge where he had thrown the body of Piest and four other victims (although only four of the five victims Gacy claimed to have disposed of in this way were ever recovered from the Des Plaines river).

Between December 1978 and March 1979, twenty-nine bodies were found at Gacy's property: twenty-six of the victims were found buried in his crawl space, one victim was found buried beneath the concrete floor of Gacy's garage, a twenty-eighth victim was found buried in a pit beneath a barbecue grill in Gacy's back garden and a twenty-ninth victim was found buried beneath the joists of Gacy's dining room floor. Three additional bodies, which had been found in the nearby Des Plaines River between June and December 1978, were also confirmed to have been victims of Gacy. Several of the bodies were found with the ligature used to strangle them still knotted around their necks. In other instances, cloth gags were found lodged deep down the victims' throats, leading the investigators to conclude that thirteen of Gacy's victims died not of strangulation, but of asphyxiation.

Some victims were identified due to their known connection to Gacy through PDM Contractors; others were identified due to their personal artifacts being found at 8213 Summerdale: one victim, 17-year-old Michael Bonnin, who had disappeared June 3, 1976 while traveling from Chicago to Waukegan, was identified because his fishing license was found at Gacy's home; another youth, Tim O' Rourke, was last heard mentioning that a contractor had offered him a job. Of Gacy's identified victims, the youngest were Samuel Stapleton and Michael Marino, both 14 years old; the oldest were Russell Nelson and James Mazzara, both 21 years old. Eight of the victims have never been identified. On April 9, 1979, Robert Piest's body was discovered on the banks of the Des Plaines River: his autopsy revealed that "paper-like material" had been shoved down his throat while he was alive. Trial Edit Block William Kunkle, prosecutor at Gacy's trial, standing before the board displaying the 22 victims identified by the time of Gacy's trial.

John Gacy was brought to trial on February 6, 1980, charged with 33 murders. He was tried in Rockford before Judge Louis Garrippo. In the year prior to his trial, at the request of his defense counsel, Gacy spent over 300 hours with the doctors at the Menard Correctional Center undergoing a variety of psychological tests before a panel of psychiatrists to determine whether he was mentally competent to stand trial. Gacy had attempted to convince the doctors he was suffering from a multiple personality disorder. His lawyers, however, opted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges against him, and produced several psychiatric experts who had examined Gacy the previous year to testify to their findings. Three psychiatric experts appearing for the defense at Gacy's trial, testified they found Gacy to be a paranoid schizophrenic who suffered from a multiple personality disorder. The prosecution's case was that Gacy was sane and fully in control of his actions. The prosecution produced several witnesses to testify to the premeditation of his actions and the efforts he went to in order to escape detection, plus doctors who refuted the defense doctors' claims of multiple-personality and insanity.

Two witnesses who testified were PDM employees, who confessed Gacy had made them dig trenches in his crawl space. One of these employees, Michael Rossi, testified that in August 1977, Gacy had marked a location in the crawl space with sticks and told him to dig a drainage trench. When asked where in the crawl space he had dug, Rossi turned to a diagram of Gacy's home on display in the courtroom, showing where the bodies were found in the crawl space and elsewhere on the property, and pointed to the location of the remains of an unidentified victim known as "Body 13". Rossi stated he had not dug any other trenches, but—at Gacy's request—had supervised other PDM employees digging trenches in the crawl space. He also testified that Gacy would periodically look into the crawl space to ensure employees did not deviate from the precise locations he had marked. Gacy had testified after his arrest he had had employees (including Gregory Godzik) dig trenches in order that he would "have graves available".

During the third week of the trial, Gacy's defense team attempted to raise the possibility that all 33 murders were accidental erotic asphyxia deaths: the Cook County Coroner countered this assertion with evidence that Gacy's claim was impossible. On February 29, one of the youths Gacy had sexually assaulted in 1967, Donald Voorhees, testified to his ordeal at the hands of Gacy, who had subsequently paid another youth to beat him and spray mace in his face so he would not testify against him. The youth felt unable to testify, but did attempt to briefly, before being asked to step down. Robert Donnelly testified the week after Voorhees, recounting his ordeal at Gacy's hands in December 1977. Donnelly was visibly distressed as he recollected the abuse he endured at Gacy's hands and came close to breaking down on several occasions. As the youth testified, Gacy repeatedly laughed at Donnelly's expense, but the youth finished his testimony. One of Gacy's defense attorneys, Robert Motta, attempted to discredit Donnelly's testimony, but the youth refused to recant his testimony.

On the fifth week of the trial, Gacy wrote a letter to Judge Garippo, requesting a mistrial, claiming he had been against the defense's insanity plea, that his defense team had not called enough witnesses, that he had been denied the opportunity to testify (as his defense counsel had advised him) and that the statements given by police as to what he had said after his arrest were false, "self-serving" statements used by the prosecution. Judge Garippo told Gacy that he had the choice as to whether he wished to testify, and was free to indicate if he wished to do so. On March 11, both counsels began their final arguments (which finished the following day). The prosecution's Terry Sullivan spoke first, outlining Gacy's history of abusing youths and his efforts to avoid detection, and describing Gacy's surviving victims—Voorhees and Donnelly—as "living dead". After four hours of argument, the prosecution rested, followed immediately by the defense, Sam Amirante and Robert Motta. Motta and Amirante refuted the prosecution doctors' testimony, attempting to portray Gacy as a "man driven by compulsions he was unable to control", and repeatedly referred to the defense doctors' previous testimony.

Amirante and Motta then argued that Gacy's psychology should be studied. The jury deliberated for less than two hours and found Gacy guilty of each murder. The following day, March 13, both the prosecution and defense made alternate pleas for the sentence the jury should decide: the prosecution requesting a death sentence for each murder committed after the Illinois statute on capital punishment came into effect in June of 1977; the defense requesting life imprisonment. The jury deliberated for more than two hours before sentencing Gacy to death. Death row and execution Edit Block Gacy with then 18-year-old Jason Moss in March 1994, less than two months before he was executed.[137] Gacy was incarcerated at the Menard Correctional Center in the town of Chester, Illinois, where he spent 14 years on death row. In prison, Gacy began to paint. The subjects Gacy painted varied, although many were of clowns—some of which depicted himself as "Pogo." Many of his paintings were sold at various auctions for prices ranging between $200 and $20,000 apiece.

John Gacy spent much of his time on death row studying books on law and filing numerous, exhaustive appeals and motions—none of which were successful. Gacy contended that he only had "some knowledge" of five of the murders: those of McCoy, Butkovitch, Godzik, Szyc and Piest and contended the remaining 28 murders had been committed by employees who were in possession of keys to his house while he was away on business trips. In the summer of 1984, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld Gacy's conviction, ordering him to be executed by lethal injection on November 14. Gacy appealed against this decision, although on March 4, 1985, the US Supreme Court denied Gacy's appeal. On the morning of May 9, 1994, Gacy was transferred from the Menard Correctional Center to Stateville Correctional Center to be executed. That afternoon, he was allowed a private picnic in the prison grounds with his family. That evening, he observed prayer with a Catholic priest before he was escorted to the Stateville execution chamber to receive a lethal injection. Gacy was a diagnosed psychopath.

According to published reports, he did not express any remorse for his crimes. His last words to his lawyer prior to his execution were to the effect that killing him would not bring anyone back, and it is reported his final spoken words—given to a correctional officer as he walked to the execution chamber—were simply "kiss my ass." Before the execution began, the chemicals administered to perform the execution unexpectedly solidified, clogging the IV tube administering the chemicals into Gacy's arm and complicating the execution procedure. Blinds covering the window through which witnesses observed the execution were drawn, and the execution team replaced the clogged tube to complete the procedure. After ten minutes, the blinds were reopened and the execution resumed. The total procedure took a total of 18 minutes to complete.Anesthesiologists blamed the problem on the inexperience of prison officials who were conducting the execution, saying that proper procedures taught in "IV 101" would have prevented the error. This apparently led to Illinois' subsequent adoption of a different method of lethal injection. On this subject, one of the prosecutors at Gacy's trial, William Kunkle, said: "He still got a much easier death than any of his victims.

In my opinion he got an easier death than he deserved, but the important thing is that he paid for his crimes with his life." In the hours leading up to Gacy's execution, a crowd estimated to number over one thousand gathered outside the correctional center to observe the execution: the majority of whom were vocally in favor of the execution, although anti-death penalty protesters were also present. Of those in favor of the execution, some wore t-shirts harking to Gacy's previous community services as a clown and bearing satirical slogans such as 'no tears for the clown.' The anti-death penalty protesters present observed a silent candlelit vigil. After Gacy's death was confirmed at 12:58 a.m., his brain was removed. It is in the possession of Dr. Helen Morrison, a witness for the defense at Gacy's trial, who interviewed Gacy and other serial killers in an attempt to isolate common personality traits of violent sociopaths. Examination of Gacy's brain after his execution revealed no abnormalities. Gacy as an artist Edit Block In the months following Gacy's execution, many of his paintings were auctioned. A total of nineteen were sold by an autograph dealer named Steve Koschal.

The asking prices of Gacy's artwork ranged from $195, for an acrylic painting of a bird to $9500 for a painting depicting dwarves playing baseball against the Chicago Cubs. This particular painting was autographed by several members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, although those who had signed the painting were unaware Gacy was the creator. Koschal had initially suggested to Gacy that he offer his paintings for sale and subsequently became Gacy's agent; even commissioning Gacy to produce specific paintings such as the one signed by the Baseball Hall of Famers. Exhibitions of Gacy's paintings have been held since the 1980s and continue to be held to this day. Gacy had been criticized for earning money from the sale of his paintings, although he dismissed the criticism, claiming his paintings were designed "to bring joy into people's lives." Several of Gacy's paintings were specifically bought with the intention that they be burned: a bonfire held in Naperville in June 1994 saw a total of 25 paintings burned. The communal bonfire was attended by approximately 300 people, including family members of nine of Gacy's victims.

On May 13, 2011, an exhibit of 74 of Gacy's works opened at the Arts Factory Gallery in Las Vegas, NV, including the self-portrait "Goodbye Pogo" priced at $4,500. Reportedly, the National Center for Victims of Crime, one of the named beneficiaries of the sale, obtained a cease and desist order on the use of their name in connection with the exhibit. Victims Edit Block Identified victims (age in parentheses) Only twenty-five of Gacy's victims were ever identified. By the time of Gacy's trial, twenty-two victims had been identified. In March 1980, Dr. Robert Stein was able to identify two further bodies unearthed from Gacy's crawl space as those of Kenneth Parker and Michael Marino; two teenage friends who were reported missing on October 25, 1976. One further unidentified victim was eventually identified in 1986 as Timothy McCoy, Gacy's first victim. Unidentified victims Eight victims remain unidentified: seven from Gacy's crawl space and one from beneath his barbecue pit. Experts used the skulls of the unidentified victims to create facial reconstructions.

Based upon Gacy's confession, where the victims were buried in his crawl space relative to Gacy's identified victims, and forensic analysis, police were able to determine the most likely dates when his unidentified victims were killed. In Popular Culture American Serial Killers | Serial Killers - Part 9 John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy is perhaps one of the best known American serial killers of all time. Lacking remorse, repeating serial style abductions, killings, and sadistic torture procedures, Gacy claimed enough lives to be put to death. Twisted desire and corrupted behaviour gave way to private perversions of rape and murder performed on male captives his clown costume and people-friendly demeanour deceived. Wife swapping early in his marriage degenerated into homosexual activities with strange men. In a time when most things of this ilk were not spoken of, Gacy pursued stag films, prostitute led orgies and private homosexual encounters. Many know Gacy for his propensity to wear a clown costume during block parties, but there is much more to this serial killer. A socially aggressive man with a knack for cooking, Gacy personifies the ugly stereotype of the hidden psycho killer lurking within us all.

A sickly child whose maturity hid a frightening alter ego, Gacy existed as a social curiosity who committed murders while belonging to social organizations and enjoying a social personality. The Junior Chamber International was the type of service club that Gacy might have earned the respect of his father for leading, if the known proclivity wasn’t stag parties, dirty movies, and paid women to bring in new members. John Wayne Gacy became JayCee president despite known homosexual teenage tendencies. His history had already included incidences of accusations for kidnapping, sodomy, and other crimes. But Gacy’s white male status and Jaycees reputation formed a confidence that convinced even visiting police all was well. With a custom built crawlspace under his house and his wife and mother out of the way, Gacy pursued the serial killings and amassed a stack of ID’s, personal possessions, and torture trophies from the murders. Gacy’s encounter with Donald Voorhies caused a prosecution for sodomy to occur. But Gacy may have been eyeballing young teenage men years before that, as the sub-basement full of corpses found later would attest.

Gacy’s spree of abduction, homosexual assault, strangulation and death by asphyxiation, and storage/removal of bodies kept a steady flow of young men abused and/or missing from the area in the years 1972 to 1978. These were the crimes for which he was executed in 1994. Gacy was the first son of a humble American machinist in Chicago environs who was of Polish extraction and a war veteran besides. Illinois was a humble place to grow up but not big enough for room between father and son in the Gacy household. Could Gacy’s father have been more accepting of his son’s tendencies? Would lives have been saved if the era had not been so homophobic? Would the later Gacy’s rage have been manageable? None can say. The distance between the father and son grew with the years, when instinctive leanings toward cooking and gardening rubbed the father the wrong way. named for the mother’s favourite movie star. Gacy’s heart condition caused blackouts during sports and mechanized work activities, and as a high school dropout he began a career in sales.

Nunn-Bush shoes was his career after a stint in Nevada failed to yield a high school diploma, yet Gacy was sharp enough to pursue a business degree later at Northwestern Business College. John Wayne Gacy was abused emotionally by his father and rejected as being a “wimp”, while closely associating with his mother. Childhood friends relate that he had an inordinate appetite for cross-dressing and feminine type activities which resulted in him being all but alienated from his father. His public response to the sodomy charge included a failed lie detector test and his wife leaving him with the two children. Other allegations surfaced after the sodomy prosecution, yet it’s possible these encounters were consensual. The 1950’s and 1960’s were a time of growth and change for John Wayne Gacy. His job as his wife’s relative’s manager of the Kentucky Fried Chicken manager had given Gacy a chance to shine as a cook. With the social parameters of a prison stint fulfilled by cooking in the prison kitchen and the social components served by commingling with inmates, staff, and warden, Gacy’s father’s death hit John Wayne Gacy hard.

Prison was a difficult place to withstand both the desire for homosexual encounters and the sight of them, as violent encounters proved. John Wayne Gacy became a different individual after prison and the death of his father. A brilliant social player, Gacy returned to Chicago. At 28, Gacy faced a divorced family and children he would never see again. Using the social skills he had mastered to cover his tainted urges, Gacy forged a new life. Short order cooking while living with his aging mother, Gacy resumed the life of “normalcy”. By 1971 he was in business for himself, manifesting a painting and decorating company. Gacy’s suppressed homosexual tendencies would surface paired with fits of rage and the urge for subjugation of the victim and their sexual humiliation. Carol Hoff and her two daughters welcomed the relationship with Gacy, who formed a family with them. Yet the hidden compulsion for teenage youths Gacy preferred in a sexual manner could not be stoppered. Gacy picked up a young man at a bus stop and engaged in an homosexual encounter with him. This was followed with an impulsive swing of a kitchen knife. Thus Gacy created a a murder where a mere moral crime had been.

On January 2, 1972 Tim McCoy had got into the wrong car and ended up with his remains hidden in a crawlspace behind Gacy’s home. It should be known that Gacy’s encounters were not simply homosexual episodes, but homosexual incidents of torture and violence as well as sexual assault. Gacy’s marriage to Carol Hoff involved Gacy’s mother to move out. Gacy had learned to eliminate grounds for charges as well as empowering himself to act in power. In concert with sexual needs Gacy could exorcise the stigma of taboo fantasies under private conditions and enjoy suppressed urges and childhood rage at his father. By the time of Gacy’s arrest in 1978, he had aggressively framed a harassment case against local police. The leads in the case led to the marijuana arrest that kept Gacy in custody while investigators surveyed the crime scene and corpse storage area at Gacy’s home. The twenty-nine bodies found there and the others found in the Des Plaines River created a media and public sensation. In all John Wayne Gacy was responsible for raping and murdering a shocking 33 young men and boys. Article by Roy Whyte . Visit his Google+ page for more.

Question: What was the nickname of the American serial killer John Wayne Gacy who was executed in 1994 for the rape and murder of 33 boys and young men?
Answer: 'KILLER CLOWN'